Clash, Burn
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day eighty-one: Months apart, how are two partnerships between Rachel and Santana any different?


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third cycle Now here comes cycle 4! :D_

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**"Clash, Burn"  
Rachel & Santana**

There was something good about the alphabet. It was good to know, which people you'd run the risk of being next to, partnered to… It was a good system. But then you'd run into those who preferred randomization. All of a sudden, you were walking a land mine field. You could hope to end up with a friend, yes, you could hope… you were disappointed more times than not. For instance…

"Santana Lopez… Rachel Berry."

They'd both done the same motion. They'd stopped what they were doing as though put on pause, they'd looked up and over, and their eyes had met a moment before looking up to their teacher, as though he'd start laughing and say it was a joke. It wasn't.

Santana had just joined Glee Club, with Quinn and Brittany, a few days before. Already, Rachel didn't feel too confident in having them there. They had done nothing but antagonize them, could she be blamed for taking issue with having them come and… contaminate the club?

Before she'd joined the club, she was only ever known to Rachel as someone who would love nothing more than to mock her and take pleasure in her misery. This kept her slightly apprehensive of whether or not to trust her. She didn't care for her, and Rachel wasn't crazy about her either.

As the class was guided to pair with their partner to begin discussing the assignment, the two of them awkwardly moved to sit next to each other. For the first few minutes, neither of them spoke. Santana was sneak texting, while Rachel was madly taking notes. When she could take no more notes without getting her partner's input, she looked back to Santana. She sighed, finishing her message before putting her phone down.

"Fine, let's do this," she crossed her arms in front of herself. Rachel looked down to her notes for a moment. This was not going to be pleasant.

The rest of the period went about along the same rhythm. Rachel tried to engage Santana with her ideas, and Santana just went along with whatever she said, to get the project over with. When the class was over, Santana had left, and Rachel was left to see all of the work so far had come from her.

Going home, she'd thought about this whole situation with Santana. She didn't know her very well, personally, but from what she could tell she did get along fairly well where grades were concerned. Would she really throw this project aside just because she was paired with her?

The next day, Santana had dropped off her half of the assignment without a word. Rachel had gone through it and was shocked/amazed to find it was good. Once she'd put in her half as well, it had all come together in a fairly satisfying whole. Rachel had handed it in for them, they'd gotten an A, and the whole thing was pushed to the back of their minds.

As the months had passed, they had continued being on opposite ends, on more occasions than she would bother to count. Still, Rachel had to wonder sometimes… would all this proximity, how they all came together time and again in Glee numbers, change how she'd react to her? She wasn't sure how or if she could test the theory.

The chance was finally given to her, before she even realized it, as once again, the alphabet safety net had been removed and…

"Rachel Berry. Santana Lopez."

Their eyes had met up once again, confirming the partnership. As they'd all moved to partner up, Rachel could definitely feel less resistance and reluctance from her second-time partner.

Ever since their sectionals victory, it had really seemed they had turned over a new leaf on some points. Santana's revelation of her enjoyment for Glee Club had shown them all a side they did not see all that much… if ever. They could also feel she wouldn't have spoken a word of it if it wasn't necessary in that instant.

They'd kept it to themselves, mostly. But Rachel could see it now… they were gaining ground. They just had to be patient.

THE END


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